updated 01:28 pm EDT, Fri May 4, 2012

Zelda creator behing latest Nintendo patent

A newly discovered USPTO patent from Nintendo reveals the video game hardware and software maker may be working on a new tourist-guiding system. Thought up by Shigeru Miyamoto of Legend of Zelda fame, the patent talks about tracking users carrying a portable game console, a DS Lite in this case, by way of overhead infrared transmitters. The console would then communicate with a server that would light up signs built into the building to guide the user.

An app on the console would let users interact with the maps and pick their own path through it. The patent was filed in January, but it doesn't guarantee Nintendo will release the technology anytime soon, if ever.

The company recently outfitted the Louvre with a much simpler tourist guide based around its 3DS console. [viaEngadget]